A mat is not a tangle. It is felted hair that has knitted itself into a pad against the skin, and dragging an ordinary comb through one hurts, which is how a dog learns to disappear when the grooming box comes out. The nine-tooth side of this rake is spaced wide so that each blade cuts down through the felt rather than pulling at it, splitting a mat into sections small enough to comb out.

Turn it over and the seventeen-tooth side handles the other half of the job, with closer spacing to rake loose undercoat out of a thick coat, which is where most of the hair on your floors comes from. Both sides are stainless steel with rounded tips. The technique is the same either way: short strokes in the direction the coat lies, starting at the outer edge of a mat and working inwards, never sawing at one spot.

• Nine-tooth side for cutting through mats
• Seventeen-tooth side for thinning and deshedding
• Stainless-steel blades
• Two sizes, small and large
• Available in pink or blue
• Weighs between 83g and 108g depending on size
• Suits both cats and dogs

On mats sitting close to the skin. The teeth on any dematting rake are blades. Slide a finger between the mat and the skin, hold the hair at the base so you are not pulling on skin, and stop if your pet flinches. Mats that are solid against the body, matted armpits, and anything on an elderly or thin-skinned animal belong to a groomer with clippers.

Who it's for: Owners of double-coated or long-haired dogs and cats who need to break up the occasional mat and keep on top of a heavy moult at home.